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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_CCSpecialMeeting_10292011IONA TOWN MEETING NEW PARK NAME, NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, PARK CLOSURE, SPLASH PARK/POOL, MEET THE CANDIDATES OCTOBER 29, 2011 5:00 P.M. IONA COMMUNITY CENTER PRESENT: Mayor Brad Andersen, Council President Jane Shaw, Council member Dan Gubler, Council member Bruce Case, Council member Dennis McArthur, City Clerk Robyn Keyes, Police Chief Shannon Basaraba. VISITORS: Barbara Schreier, Sally Louk, Thane Price, Robert Geray, Connie Roberts, Sandy Geray, Austin Geray, Kevin Molloy, Jeremy Nelson, Sheri Price, Karen Hansen, Edna Gerard, Darlene Desomer, Merodene Case, David Louk, Jack Gerard, Jerry Kirkpatrick, Bonnie Kirkpatrick, Greg Rockwood, Sammy Gerard, Mindy Gerard Mayor Andersen welcomed the attendees and said he was waiting on one candidate before beginning the candidate introduction. Naming of the new park. Mayor Andersen explained that Ron and Susan Barnes had donated the land for the park when they turned the land into a housing development. The Mayor said some suggestions for the new park name were: Barnes Park, Heritage Park, and Pioneer Park, and asked the audience for suggestion s and input. Darlene Desomer asked what the development name was and suggested naming the park the same. Mayor Andersen said the development was called Mountain Ridge Estates. No one had any more name suggestions. The Mayor said the Council would consider the possibilities. Neighborhood Watch/Citizen Patrol. Mayor Andersen asked Chief Basaraba to explain the reason for the interests in neighborhood watch and citizen patrol and the difference between the two. Chief Basaraba explained that a citizen watch was a trained, volunteer citizen patrolling in a police car and a neighborhood watch was volunteer citizens keeping an eye on the neighborhood from their own homes. Both situations would require training for the people involved. Karen Hansen asked if the City could combine the two. The Chief said they could be combined. The Chief assumed the cost for the City to train people and provide equipment would be about $3,000 to $5,000 a year. Darlene Desomer asked if the people patrolling would have authority to take care of incidents. 1 The Chief said they would have the same authority as any other citizen: but their role would be more for prevention than enforcement. Council member McArthur explained the amount and degree of activity and vandalism in and around the park. He said he believed a citizen patrol would help eliminate a lot of the vandalism and mischief. Jeremy Nelson asked if the City attorney had found out if the County Sheriff had the authority to charge the City of Iona for patrolling the area. Mayor Andersen said the issue was complicated but as far as the attorney could tell there was no precedence set therefore, more investigation was required. Mayor Andersen asked the people in the audience to raise their hands if they were in support of a citizen patrol or neighborhood watch. The majority of the people raised their hands. The Mayor then took names of those interested in volunteering their time to help with the project. Park Closure. The Mayor explained that vandalism in the park was still occurring and most of the incidents happened at night. The idea of closing the park by posting signs of when the park was open to the public and when it was closed had been presented to the Council. The Mayor asked the audience for their opinion regarding closing the park. Darlene Desomer asked if an actual fence would be constructed and the gates locked. Mayor Andersen said a fence would not be constructed, but signs would be posted informing the public of the closure times. Council member Case agreed that something needed to be done regarding the vandalism, but he said the City already had a curfew ordinance in affect. The Council member suggested enforcing the curfew. Karen Hansen said she was against more City regulation but agreed that something needed to be done. Edna Gerard spoke of an incident in her back yard with kids shooting guns. Mayor Andersen said that by posting park closure signs it would give the Police Chief a means for enforcement. Mayor Andersen recommended closing the park at 11:00 p.m. everynight and asked those in favor to raise their hands. The majority of the people in attendance were in favor. Splash Park or Pool. Mayor Andersen said the Council was seeking input regarding the installation of either a splash park or a swimming pool. 2 Kevin Molloy said he was against the idea and wanted to get it straight that the property the City was considering for the splashpark or pool was neither donated land or commercial property. Molloy said developers were required to provide green space in housing developments. Mayor Andersen said he was fairly confident that developers in the area were not required to provide green space within housing developments: and that there were many housing developments in the county and other cities that did not have public green space provided. Karen Hansen said when Barnes' were developing the area it was required that they donate the land for a park. Council president Shaw asked Mr. Molloy if his concerns were with a commercial pool going in to the park. Molloy said he lived next door and did not want something going in that would create a lot of interest and traffic. Mayor Andersen said a public pool fell into the same zoning as a school or church: they were not considered a commercial business. Mayor Andersen explained the idea for a splash park: it would be small, 20 x 20 or 20 x 25, it would cost around $40,000, the water would be put on a timer and would only operate during certain hours, the water could be recycled and chlorinated or it could be free flow water and not recycled. The free flow system used surprisingly little water. A pool would cost around $250,000 to install: the City of Ammon was currently making at least $5,000 revenue after operating expenses were paid for their public pool. Samantha Gerard asked if the City would need to hire someone to be in attendance with the splash park. Mayor Andersen said most splash parks were unattended: they just ran on a timer. Karen Hansen said she was against the idea because of the poor economy: she asked where the money would come from. Mayor Andersen said a pool would require a bond and a splash park could be paid with existing general fund money along with possible grant money. Greg Rockwood said most of the people who lived near the new park were against the idea of a splash park or pool because of the added noise and traffic. Mayor Andersen said there would be added noise and traffic with any public park. Jack Gerard said either a splash park or pool would add extra traffic and interest in the area. 3 Edna Gerard asked if the City could not get a grant for the attraction would the City raise the water rate? Mayor Andersen said no, not for the purpose of paying for or running a splash park or pool. Gerry Kirkpatrick said he was in favor of the idea but would like to see public activities kept to a central location such as the Square. Mayor Andersen said the Square was already saturated with activities and finding a spot would prove difficult. The Mayor said he had received mixed feedback regarding a splash park or pool but most of the feedback had been positive: the majority of the people talking to him liked the idea. The Mayor also said the survey sent out for the comprehensive plan had many people in favor of more activities and attractions for the community. Kevin Molloy expressed anger with the Council regarding the issue and left the room. Council President Shaw suggested having a public hearing to gather more information on the issue. The Mayor agreed and said the Council would do more research on the subject. Greg Rockwood thanked the Council and Mayor for their work and efforts to make Iona a wonderful place to live. Mr. Rockwood said he was in favor of the idea of more attractions such as a splash park, but not in his neighborhood. Candidates. The Mayor read the following candidate profiles: Robert Geray o Joined the Navy at 18 and served 21 years before retiring as a Master Chief. Served in various locations around the country and held numerous leadership positions. o Married Sandy Johnson in 1992. Has three kids. o Compliance auditor at the INL. o Iona Planning and Zoning Commission member since September 2010: o My campaign promises: o I promise I'll make some mistakes. o I promise we won't always agree on all of the issues. o But I also promise that I'll listen carefully and research the issues so I can make logical, well-informed decisions that benefit the residents of Iona, ID, the small town with a big heart. My commitment to public service is exemplified by my time in the Navy and on the Planning and Zoning Commission. I see the Iona City Council as an opportunity to make a difference in government on a local level. As a City Councilman, I would never forget that the dollars I spend 4 are not mine. I'd be honored to have your vote and would work hard to continue earning your respect. Dan Gubler I have appreciated the opportunity to serve on the City Council for the last four years. Iona is a wonderful place to live, and I would like to continue to serve the people in the roll of Council member. Sally Louk I am Sally Louk; I live at 5466 E Steele Ave. in Iona. I was born and raised in Iona. My parents are Ken and Edna Gerard, and my siblings live in and around the Community. I have been married for 5 years in December to David Louk, who is a caring husband and was born and raised here in Iona. I currently work at the Idaho National Laboratory, and have been there for 15 years. I have two wonderful sons, and two beautiful grandchildren. I am a hard worker, self -motivated, compassionate, concerned and very outgoing, love to talk with people. I like to see results, my Goal is to better our Community for ALL generations. It's time for a fresh perspective on what is good for our Community. I feel that I'm the Candidate that has the best interest of Iona moving forward. Best regards, Sally Louk For City Council "The New Game in Town" Thane Price Thane Price grew up in a small town in Bear Lake County, Idaho. He graduated from Shelley High School and received a Bachelor's degree in Business Information Systems from Utah State University. He also holds a Master's of Information Systems degree from University of Phoenix. Currently Thane is employed at the Idaho National Laboratory where he works in Software Development. Delivering software services to laboratory users gives Thane opportunities to deal with people in stressful and difficult situations and also provides many insights into the changes facing our nation and communities due to technology. Serving on the city council for our great town of Iona would be a privilege for Thane. He approaches decisions methodically and considers the needs of everyone involved while standing firm for what is in the best interest of the future. Jane Storer Shaw I was born and raised in Iona and my roots to the community go deep. My uncle, Bill Storer, was a long time mayor of Iona. I ran for city council because I wanted to be a part of how the community developed and grew, keeping its pioneer and small town atmosphere in mind. I care about the citizens of Iona and I wanted to make sure that their interests were being addressed and do my best to meet and resolve their concerns. We have a great community in Iona. Our water system is carefully monitored and maintained, while preserving precious financial resources to avoid rate increases to the people. We have good roads and we are working to provide nice parks for people to use and enjoy. 5 It's no secret that as far as government is concerned, I believe that less is more and that governments responsibilities to a community should be limited to issues that involve safety and security and recreational opportunities like our parks and our library. I prefer to keep government out of people's personal lives as much as possible. I would love to have the opportunity to continue to represent and serve the people of Iona. The Mayor asked each candidate if they wanted to add anything to their profile. Council President Shaw said appreciated the Town Hall meeting because she wanted to know what the people wanted. She said she would represent the voice of the people. Sally Louk agreed with Jane Shaw, and said the people needed to attend the meeting and trust the Council. She encouraged people to get involved and let the Council know what they wanted. Dan Gubler said he appreciated everyone coming out and he was grateful to live in a free country. He said Iona had a diverse population and he liked to talk to people and neighbors about the important issues. Thane Price said he grew up in a small town much like Iona and he wanted to be involved not because anything was wrong but because he wanted to in involved and serve the community. He said he was not running because he wanted to change things, but because he wanted to help make decisions with a vision for the future. Rob Geray said he loved the atmosphere and people in Iona. Geray said he differed a bit in opinion with some of the other candidates. Geray said it was difficult for many people to attend Council meetings or become involved due to work or family issues. Geray said he was a compliance auditor and he understood through his job that doing the right thing was not always popular, but very important. 6